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the
faint - an article by nicole wright
http://www.thefaint.com
The Faint. Rock and Roll for the New Millenium.
A once normal indie rock band from Omaha, The Faint has distanced themselves
from the rest with their new style, a machine-gun paced onslaught of
rhythms, mixed with synthesizers, a little guitar, and more than unique
lyrics. Think of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the part where
Mr. Wonka is taking Charlie
and the others on the boat ride. Everything starts out looking normal;
they are just floating along on the Chocolate Stream, then things start
to speed up. There are a lot of loud noises and flashing lights and
image bombardments, and no one knows what hits them. Then before they
can think, it’s over and all there is left to say is “What
was that?” Yeah, that is pretty much the Faint. No emo head bobbing
or head walking here, the Faint offers something better. And as if the
flashing lights, smoke, and strobes were not enough, the music will
suck you in, leave you with no choice but to dance, then leave you wondering
what happened. It reminds me of the House of Pain song “Jump Around”.
“I came to get down. So get out your seats and jump around. Jump
around. Jump up Jump up and get down. Jump. Jump. Jump.” You get
the point. And they wear black in a way that makes you want to get rid
of all color in your wardrobe, whip out the dark attire, and head for
the coffee houses. As indie rock tries to make it’s way into mainstream,
in the likes of Jimmy Eat World, Saves the Day, and Dashboard Confessional,
the Faint is right along with them. Scoring an opening spot for No Doubt,
some might say they are strikingly similar to Orgy. Yeah, but Orgy was
never nearly this good.
The Faint can trace their beginnings back to the release of cassettes
in their now abandoned lo-fi pop style for Lumberjack, now Saddle Creek
Records. They
managed to make a name for themselves in the thriving Omaha scene playing
Coffee Shops and other such venues. At that time they went by the name
Norman Bailer. Not happy with their light pop, math rock stylings, the
band sought to distance themselves from the rest. To counter the new
style, they changed their name to the Faint and released their first
full length “Media” in 1998. “Media”’s styles
ranged from dancy, brit-pop anthems to collaboration with an all-acoustic
folk ensemble, proving to be the album they needed to make in order
to settle on a direction for the future. Following a national tour in
promotion of the album, the Faint weren’t satisfied. They began
writing new songs, adding more synthesizers and going for a more tantalizing
live experience. “Blank-Wave Arcade”, the followup release,
put the band on an entirely different level. New to synthesizers and
electronic music in general, the Faint found themselves looking to the
future of music while at the same time being on the same page as artists
in the early eighties, cognizant of the future of music while at the
same times trying to come to grips with themselves as musicians of new
technology. After a year of tours in support of “Blank-Wave Arcade”,
the Faint were back again with their junior release “Danse Macabre”.
“Danse Macabre” provides evidence of their progression into
electronic music, displaying richer electronics, while at the same time
remaining melodic and catchy. In hopes of solidifying their electronic
sound, the Faint opted for the production to be more along the lines
of dance club quality rather than the live basement type recorded atmosphere
of the previous album. As they take to the rode is promotion of the
critically acclaimed new release, the Faint are turning heads, shaking
booties, and making a new name for Indie Rock.
What
did you think of the record? <<<<click this and tell
us what you thought.
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